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Monday, June 22, 2009

Constructor: Fred Piscop

THEME: The puzzle is brought to you today by the letter C. Each theme answer begins with a homophone of "cee."

Word of the Day: AXON (38A: Neural transmitter) — An axon or nerve fiber is a long, slender projection of a nerve cell, or neuron, that conducts electrical impulses away from the neuron's cell body or soma. ... Axons are in effect the primary transmission lines of the nervous system, and as bundles they help make up nerves. Individual axons are microscopic in diameter (typically about 1μm across), but may be up to several feet in length. The longest axons in the human body, for example, are those of the sciatic nerve, which run from the base of the spine to the big toe of each foot. These single-cell fibers of the sciatic nerve may extend a meter or even longer. (Wikipedia)

Hi, everyone. It's PuzzleGirl hanging with you today. Rex is a little under the weather and asked me to cover for him which, of course, I'm always delighted to do. Why? Because I crave attention. But you knew that already.

Seems like every time I turn around I'm solving a puzzle by Fred Piscop. Fortunately, Fred is an awesome constructor, so it actually turns out to be a good thing! I pretty much glided my way through this puzzle with only two minor hang-ups. First, I entered cactus for NETTLE (49A: Prickly plant). Totally understandable, right? But then I didn't know 64A: Aviator WILEY Post and I feel pretty bad about that. He was the first pilot to fly solo around the world! His plane, the Winnie Mae, is on display at the Air and Space Museum out near Dulles, which I keep meaning to take my kids to, but I just haven't gotten to it yet. Dang! My procrastination bites me in the butt again! When will I learn?

Theme answers:

17A: Emphatic south-of-the-border assent (Sí SÍ SEÑOR)

26A: Beginning piano student's exercise (C MAJOR SCALE)

45A: Parting words (SEE YOU LATER)

62A: Wind that cools a beach (SEA BREEZE)

Straightforward theme, well-executed. And, ya know what makes a good Monday puzzle? A minimum of crap fill. (Actually, that makes a puzzle good on any day of the week, but it's so much less likely on a Monday.) This puzzle includes the regulars RENO, ELIE, ORCA, DDT, ESSEN, IRE, and OSHA, but look what else we get: JAPE, DEBIT CARD, ACURA, ARAMIS! Good stuff! Let's talk about it:

Bullets:

4A: Trailer's connection to a car (HITCH). I wonder if this would have been easier or harder if it had been clued to the Will Smith movie.

15A: Japanese automaker (ACURA). It's a luxury Honda. When I don't need the mini-van any more, I'd like to get a Honda.

21A: Mocking remark (JAPE). Sounds like remark that might be made by a scamp or a scoundrel. Or maybe these guys.

33A: Feeds, as pigs (SLOPS). That's the coolest word ever for feeds.

39A: Vagrant (HOBO). I think I've mentioned before that one of the characters on my favorite kids' show — iCarly — is obsessed with hobos. Here's one of my favorite exchanges.

Sam: Let's do a project about hobos!Carly: What's the connection between hobos and science?Sam: Aren't they affected by gravity or something?

66A: Suffix with rocket or racket (-EER). Okay, this should have gone on the "puzzle regulars" list.

5D: Winter river obstruction (ICE JAM). This sounds like it might be the catch-phrase for a winter concert that takes place in my hometown (Fargo, ND).

9D: Fragrance named for a Musketeer (ARAMIS). Can you name all three? I sure can't, but I'll look them up for you. It's just one of the services I offer. ... They are Athos, Porthos, and Aramis. You're welcome.

10D: Quick, cashless way to pay for things (DEBIT CARD). PuzzleHusband and I decided that we were going to stop using our debit cards because it made it way too easy to go over budget. So, he gave me a bunch of cash the other day to last me until the end of the month and ... yeah. I'm gonna need some more.

32D: Outfielder Slaughter in the Baseball Hall of Fame (ENOS). This is a gimme for everyone by now, right?

40D: Hatfield/McCoy affair (FEUD).

46D: Cyclops feature (ONE EYE). I wonder why I always picture some sort of marine creature when I think of cyclops. I'm constantly amazed at the things I know enough for crosswords but not at all in real life. For example ...

56D: Storage for forage (SILO). I don't believe I've ever seen the word forage used as a noun. Something new. Every day.

64
comments:

Took me a little longer than an avg Monday, mainly because I refused to believe any long answer could begin "CM..." But ICE JAM had to be right, right? ICE ... JAW? ICE JAB? Those were no better. Ended up solving C MAJOR SCALE from the back end.

Easy, breezy, fun...but lacking a Marx Brothers reference. Let's see...How about, for 53D: "Critic who said, after interviewing Groucho, that his voice "was soft and serpentine, with a sort of off-balance New York rhythm to it that curiously reminded you of his walk; he kept sticking out a foot just in time."

I like a woman who directly asks for what she wants, and in Puzzle Girl's case, it's attention. So good job on your write-ups in general, PuzzleGirl, and I love your flower. Maybe you can mention what kind it is some time.

And I liked the puzzle a lot, I thought the theme was good and the fill had a little bite to it for a Monday.

I have never heard anyone say the word jape, ever, and I can never remember the names of the three musketeers no matter how many times I see them.

PuzzleGirl said it all so well. I had to write over CACTUS with NETTLE and YES NO with FALSE. We have two Hondas, and used to have an ACURA--but I always think of ACURA (like George NYC) as a HONDA made vehicle.

My favorite answer was C MAJOR SCALE. NETTLEs are supposed to be delicious with a slightly nutty taste when cooked. I'm not brave enough to harvest them having been "stung" unintentionally plenty of times. It's supposed to hit 97 today, so we're hoping a SEA BREEZE will bring some afternoon rain to cool things down.

About 6 minutes. Only three quick overwrites (14A ICU -> ERS; 49A CACTUS ->NETTLE; 40A YES/NO-> FALSE) and I was going as fast as I could type. AMAZED by those who will do this puzzle in less than 3 minutes. And there will be quite a few, I surmise.

Theme? What theme? Never thought there was one until I came here…..

Tried CHOPSTICKS @ 26A – 1 letter short. Sob.

Cluing is easier than it needs to be even for a Monday IMO. Any thoughts on this?

ICEdAM slowed the floe (sic). But not knowing dAPE and knowing JAPE cleared the way.

I will leave the discussion of neurotransmitters and dendrites to my esteemed colleague from Michigan. Although you could make like an APE and eat more bananas to help your transmissions move down the AXON.

Rex, perhaps a SEABREEZE will help. It is getting close to Moon-eye time so I would avoid an Ontariobreeze.

A "neurotransmitter" is a chemical that one nerve cell (neuron)uses to communicate with another nerve cell. Commonly used term; drugs such as Prozac work by altering your brain's use of neurotransmitters (eg seritonin). A "neural transmitter", near as I can tell, is phrase Fred Piscop made up to describe an axon (a long, slender projection of a neuron, that conducts electrical impulses away from the neuron).

not knowing DAPE and not knowing JAPE left the square in question unresolvable to me--I hate it when that happens on a Monday--there will be great lagunae in my knowledge of American slang until I die.

In retrospect, the J was the likelier guess--if it had occurred to me--I'm simply eating not enough bananas--hate those things.

I came here to find out what DAPE meant, being convinced that iceDam was the correct answer.

Turns out to be....JAPE???

Never heard of either DAPE or JAPE, so now we have a variation of a Natick, being a case were there are two completely plausible answers (ICEDAM or ICEJAM) where the critical letter crosses with an unknown word.

I don't agree about ACURA. It's made by Honda, but because it's their high end division, they want it to be perceived as a separate make of car. Acura has it's own logo. When somebody says, "What do you drive?" You say, I drive an Acura."

@mac and @ joho - ACURA is a brand manufactured by the automaker honda--as joho suggests. kind of like how Gap Inc. owns, produces, and markets Banana Republic clothing as luxury clothing that is separate and distinct from clothing from The Gap or Old Navy (which it also owns and runs). "Japanese auto brand" would have been a more accurate clue than "Japanese automaker." but the cross clues made it easy enough figure out.

But as I mentioned last night on Orange's blog, I think the clue for AXON is off. @PIX has it totally right. The AXON conducts information, and in that sense can transmit it from one end of the neuron to the other. But the word "transmitter" in neurobiology has a precise meaning, and it's a chemical process that AXONs specifically do not mediate. It could almost be a misdirection, except it is not clever or it is too subtle for the non-scientist.

Puzzlegirl, thanks for a great write up and for featuring AXON as the word of the day.

According to a historical marker at the courthouse in Pikeville, KY, the Hatfield/McCoy feud ended when several Hatfields were convicted of murder, and one was hanged. The rest of the Hatfields moved across the state line to Logan, WV.

@ foodie - "neurotransmitter" would as you say be incorrect for AXON. Neural transmitter - an axon is neural tissue and it does transmit electrical impulses. Kinda made-up, but I am not bothered by it.

JZM: Googling did not help me getting the inside joke. However, I've found a society I HAVE to join:

The Anti-Banana Society (ABS) is a subdivision of the United Nations, designed to 'purify' the world of all Bananas...to cast off the shakles of the banana-sympathetic populous that controls the hearts and mind of the good peoples of Earth. [take that, miriamb!]

And speaking of scrabble: Another courteous reader has pointed out to me the "jape" is not slang--it's a word invented specifically for scrabble players who want to get rid of a J when there is already an APE on the board.

Self proclaimed banana hater #2 here. Hate the smell, taste, and texture; so what do I do as a hobby, I make banana, mac nut, chocolate chip, coconut muffins for the local smoothy shop that one of my friends owns.

Liked the easy Monday puzzle, only write over was ERS over ors. No problem with JAPE as ICE JAMS were a yearly problem where I grew up in the frozen tundra.

@Ulrich, Don't worry about hating bananas. Tomatoes have more potassium than the dreaded yellow fruit and far less calories.While in Jamaica once I marveled at the honey-sweet small red bananas. I asked about the big yellow ones and was told with a scoff that those were fed to the pigs.

The gist is that there was a discussion about which "re-" and "anti-" words should be acceptable in Scrabble (pre-official world list). One person makes the argument that not all words can take a "re-", using the example you can't "rebanana", to which somebody else says, something like, "no, but you could be antibanana". Apparently some people are.

I heard an interview awhile back on NPR's Fresh Air With Terry Gross with a guy who researched the banana. In his travels, he learned that, of the hundreds (?) of varieties of bananas, almost all of them are tastier than the ones we (Americans, and probably Canadians, too, Crosscan) get in the grocery store. Sadly, the ones we get are the only ones that are tough enough to make the trip.

Great job, puzzlegirl!Oooooh, I didn't realize if we wanted attention we had to ASK for it!

@annere: the 3 Musketeers...someone needs to come up with a fun mnemonic... your life could depend on knowing them, cf "Slumdog Millionaire".(I like to think of myself as the d'artagnan to rex/orange/pg)

@Stanyou have an eagle eye for pointing out the WILEY/ONEEYE crossing!(altho can you cross your eyes if you only have one??!!) Who knew?

@ulrichyou crazy pot-stirrer!!my entire breakfast today consisted of a banana I felt pressured to eat lest it go bad...No matter how many I buy, it's always one too many!

@Two poniesThat is the exact kind of story I love! Plus you tied together the antibanana contingent AND slop lovers!

"banana" used as a code word for "recession" decades ago by my former colleague, Economics Professor and Dean Fred Kahn:

Bruce MacEwen, creator and host of Adam Smith, esq, (www.bmacewen.com) tells how Mr. Carter’s regulatory czar and head of the Civil Aeronautics Board Alfred Kahn dealt with the muzzle. Not one to be cornered when it came to talking, Fred Kahn was called to the Hill to testify about the economic outlook. When asked point blank about the prospects for a recession, Fred,somewhat floored, remembered his instructions and noted that he could not speak directly to thequestion, but that he did expect there might be a “banana.” Banana then became the Washingtoncode word for recession. Bruce MacEwen tells us that when the banana industry complained,Fred Kahn changed the code word to “cumquat.” The cumquat lobby was less effective in avoiding the hit.

You wouldn't know it by my solve time (5:11), but this was the easiest Monday of the 4 since I've been tracking the times. I just couldn't get my fingers to work today. One thing that slows me down is the online user interface. I hate that it skips over squares that are already filled. When I type answers, I want to type to whole word ... not look to see what letters are already filled. Does anyone know of a way to configure an option so it doesn't do that? I know my times would improve significantly.